Sorting through all of the spooky movie choices for Halloween can be a scary task. So here’s your guide to some Halloween favorites that make for a boo-tiful Halloween marathon full of tricks and treats.
“Hocus Pocus”
What better way to start Halloween than with a cult classic? In this movie, a skeptical teenager accidentally reawakens three wicked witches. When that happens, he, his sister, his friend and a boy stuck in a cat’s body have to stop the witches from destroying the world and killing innocent children. In the meantime, the three witches have to quickly learn about the modern world, namely that Halloween is a holiday where children dress as witches, not when witches cast curses. “Hocus Pocus” is not the most frightening movie, but it will definitely cast a spell on your evening and set the mood for the scarier movies to come.
“Halloweentown”
“Halloweentown” is the cornerstone of all Halloween movie marathons. The movie follows Marnie Cromwell and her siblings on Marnie’s 13th Halloween. While their mother tries to restrain the children’s fascination with all things Halloween, their grandmother actively encourages it. The children follow their grandmother to her home in Halloweentown, where they discover that they’re descendants of a long line of powerful witches. Their revelation comes at a good time, because Halloweentown needs all of the Cromwells to protect the citizens from a growing evil. “Halloweentown” embodies everything Halloween, with monsters, witches, magic and curses.
“A Nightmare on Elm Street” (1984)
Get ready for the scarier side of the Halloween marathon. Meet Freddy Krueger in one of the original slasher films. A group of four teenagers all have the same nightmare: a man with long, blade-like nails chases them to a boiler room, where he prepares to kill them. At first, the teenagers wake up in time to avoid his blade, but when one girl’s nightmare ends with her real-life murder, the other teenagers become frightened. Nancy, one of the teenagers, learns that the man of her nightmares was once a murderer, but the parents of the neighborhood had killed him years ago. This film is not for the easily frightened, as Freddy might haunt your nightmares after viewing this movie.
“Insidious”
“Insidious” will make you wish you were watching a movie that’s only about a possessed house. When their son falls from a ladder in the attic of their new home, Josh and Renai take him to the hospital and try to make their house safer. When nothing they do can stop the supernatural forces that seem to reside there, Josh and Renai call in some experts – paranormal investigators. The investigators explain what is causing the paranormal activity. It’s not their house; it’s their son. Find something to cover your face, because the final scary movie of the marathon is next.
“Halloween” (1978)
End your holiday marathon with the eponymous film. When a six-year-old Michael Myers kills his sister, the authorities tried to get him help. Then they tried to keep him locked up. Now he has escaped and plans on terrorizing his old neighborhood. “Halloween” will make you jump with fear and question what is right and wrong. The film spawned a whole franchise of movies following serial killer Michael Myers, but watch the original to see why his name lives in infamy.
Featured image courtesy Pixabay user Shelburn